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+--- Thread: Summat different for the weekend... (/showthread.php?tid=65988)
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Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 20-10-13
I ain't got much money, live in a rented house, don't own a car and have an old 52 plate sprinter van for work. All I spend my hard earned on apart from living comfortably is me bikes really. As such I've got a couple, including this harley I bought so I would have summat to leave my son and grandson, to remember their crazy old dad/ grandad when I'm long gone. I gave the fatbob to my son last summer, but now winter is here he ain't using it so I got it back. Picked it up in me van on Thursday as I was working near his gaff, got it home Thursday night, unloaded it, and went out for a nice autumn evenings ride. Came back pronto as in true harley fashion a fuse went and I lost rear light, brake light, horn and indicators. Sensibly the fuse cover is a simple push fit on the side under the seat so easy to access, un sensibly the fuses ain't marked and there's no spares ( it uses them micro blade fuses) anyhoo, Saturday popped to halfords, changed the fuse and went for a blatt. Later that day went out again for a long ride, but this time with the missus. I wouldn't want it as an only bike, and there's no justifying how much it cost me or the three years it took to pay it off, but there is something hugely rewarding about just banging along nice and steady with that big ok central speedo staring up at you, pedestrians gawking in a way they never do, kids and old people giving you the thumbs up, girls smiling, and all the while sounding like a ww2 bomber and feeling like an outlaw lol.
That evening washed it and acf50'd it. It'll never be the bike my fz1 or cb13 is, but I'm gonna use it as my city bike over the winter, in its own way it's a lotta fun. Come spring my boy can have it back, and I'll be happy to see it gone by then, but looking forward to summat so completely different for the next few months :-)
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - Lazarus - 20-10-13
they arent to everyones taste m8.............
......but I like em
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - fazersharp - 20-10-13
Not my taste either but your little write up almost makes me want one and reminds me that we are just all bikers whatever we ride.
Now enought of that Im bringing a tear to my eye. How the foc do you get in your front door.
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - richfzs - 20-10-13
:rollin :rollin
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 20-10-13
Luckily the farm house we rent comes with a seriously mahooosive garage. Gawd, I'm gonna miss that when we move in January.....
And yeah, your right, we are all bikers, whatever we ride. In a way that expensive piece of yank metal is almost worth it..it takes you right back to why you fell in love with bikes in the first place, at least for me. That freedom and sense of speed with the wind in your face..I'm fourteen again over the brick pits on a shitty honda c90 having the time of my life, not realising that the time I'm living in are "the good old days" and wishing my life away so I can turn sixteen and get a 'ped lol.
I say almost worth it, Harley's ain't, you could get just the same kicks on anything really. But my son loves it, and it feels good to know there will be summat left of me going out with him and my grandson on every ride when they are old men
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - richfzs - 20-10-13
Now that's a fine garage!
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - Dead Eye - 20-10-13
I liked the idea of having something like a Harley... but it would seriously have to just be throw away money that I can't find any other real use for
I enjoy having a good thrash about sometimes, but for the most part I tend to be more laid back - the Gen 1 is certainly catering to that more than my 600 ever did Never know, plenty of time ahead, I may well end up with one one day ^^
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 20-10-13
Mate, Someone told me once "you don't spend a lot of money to buy a harley, you tie a lot of money up to buy one" and I guess it's kinda true. They don't lose a lot generally. I bought that one a year old and the first owner had spent the dosh on the stage one ( crucial, they sound and run absolute shite stock) so I wouldn't lose too much if I sold it. That's only half the story though, I have no intention of selling, as I said it's something to leave my boys along with the lifetime of motorcycling photos and stuff like the road tests I did for bike mag, a small legacy I know, but summat to remember me by I guess. That old piss pot helmet on the Harley's mirror was my dads, he's been gone 16 years now but every time I go out on that bike wearing it he's along for the ride. That's what I want for my son and grandson. Sounds a bit melodramatic I know, but for reasons I ain't gonna go into, I ain't gonna be making old bones. I'm perfectly at peace with that, I've done all I wanted to do and wouldn't change anything, it's all good as far as I'm concerned. It could have been any bike really, but the three of us love watching "sons of anarchy".. They all ride black dynas, me and my boy ( he's 34) like em, am by a happy coincidence they're the only Harley's that go and handle well ( soft tails like the fatboy are truly dreadful) so it was a done deal really.
They have got summat good about them, but they ain't worth the money. Mines already got rust and corrosion about it coz I use it in all weathers, at just 4 years old and with 15k up, despite the maintenance and care I put into my bikes. My two japs are Similar age and look brand new.
Then there's the types of blokes who own Harley's...three main groups, and I don't fit into any. Firstly, HA..the angels only ride Harley's. Secondly, wannabe Hellas angels and lookalike tough guy types..there a desperate lot..thirdly, rich blokes..dentists, lawyers etc who throw thousands and thousands at Harley's customising book..there are a few like me, just bikers who love bikes and would be just as happy on a eighties gs thou as a harley d big twin.
It's a satisfying lump to ride, a 1584 cc v twin is gonna be I guess, but any half decent ten year old jap bike is a much better motorcycle. Like I said, I got my reasons for buying it, but it ain't for everybody ;-)
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 20-10-13
Ahh forgot to say...bust my knee on a bike back in the mid seventies, now I'm 53 it plagues me summat terrible, but the fat bobs feet forward riding position is .luvvly jubbly....
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - Dead Eye - 20-10-13
I think its a fantastic idea to be leaving it as a legacy and I would probably fit in to the same category as yourself. Definitely not HA or a "tough guy" and I certainly don't have any money - I'm more interested in riding than I am cleaning ^^
Pretty much everyone who has ever commented on Harleys to me says that they don't run well stock and are expensive for what they are... but that doesn't stop their world wide success really does it
I have quite a passion for old America muscle cars so I think the Harleys kind of stem from that appeal.
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - nick crisp - 20-10-13
(20-10-13, 09:40 PM)ogri48 link Wrote: Ahh forgot to say...bust my knee on a bike back in the mid seventies, now I'm 53 it plagues me summat terrible, but the fat bobs feet forward riding position is .luvvly jubbly....
Yeah, that time of year again isn't it?
Aches and pains seem to be early this year, look forward to winter less and less with every passing year. The Fazer is a good bike for me in that respect, pretty comfortable, and lazy if you want to ride it that way, but I'm feeling less inclined to be on a bike as the weather deteriorates. Nothing to do with wet and cold generally, can wrap up against those - but when you wake up hurting before you even get out of bed, it's not so funny. But I lived how I lived and that's done and dusted.
With you there DeadEye - bikes are for riding. All the work that goes into them in between may be necessary, you may like doing it even; all ok. But don't forget to ride when you can, cos comes a time when you can't.
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - slimwilly - 20-10-13
Nice piece Ogri, i liked reading that, just like the Ogri cartoons i used to look at in the back of the mag,, was that you doing those?
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - fazersharp - 20-10-13
I dont get to ride as much as i would like for one reason or another but sometimes just knowing its there is good enough
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 20-10-13
(20-10-13, 10:11 PM)slimwilly link Wrote: Nice piece Ogri, i liked reading that, just like the Ogri cartoons i used to look at in the back of the mag,, was that you doing those?yeah I wish mate..I'd be rich..RICH I TELL YOU!
Unfortunately, my mates have been calling me ogri since the mid eighties because I look like the ugly bugger and live by the bike.
And yup nick, these days just getting outta bed is a killer lol, you gotta keep riding though ain't ya, I'm guessing much like me as long as you can breathe you'll have a bike.
My shoulder op ain't healed like I hoped, no more sports bikes that handle and wheelie easy peasy for useless nobbers like me, but luckily yamaha invented fz1s so crippled old buggers like me can still clutch it up in second and land dodgily without popping me collarbone...
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - slimwilly - 21-10-13
Well Ogri wasn't that bad looking :lol
What part of the country you from?, living in a farmhouse too.
It will be a job finding another house with a garage like that, good luck there.
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - nick crisp - 21-10-13
That was Paul Sample did the Ogri cartoons. A work colleague of mine has three full size, limited edition posters of Ogri, framed on his bedroom wall - could be worth a bit. His missus actually insisted he give them pride of place - she's also buying him a Guzzi (not sure which model) as a weekend toy. Now where can I get me a missus like that?!
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - red98 - 21-10-13
nice read ogri,from the heart......it does amuse me,there are some bikers that i put in the "angels-tough guy group" dressed in all the gear that some people would steer clear of,especially the older generation....but i always make a point of saying hello and 9 times out of 10 there the nicest people your likely to meet....makes me laugh on the inside.....if you go to the events section,lofo`s oct ride out you will see me chatting to a 90 something lady about bikes and things.her son owns a bike and she has fond memories of her dad riding all those years ago.....priceless memories....bought this a few years ago to use whilst riding my honda 400/4 which will be my sons one day
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 21-10-13
slimwilly, im just outside of norwich in norfolkshire, if your ever about call in for a cuppa, your welcome to take the harley out too.
red98 thats a great lid and another great legacy mate, a classic honda. i had a cb750f1 years ago, the sohc one with the 4into 1 standard pipe, loved that bike.
looking at the ogri toons on the HJC, i realise i am actually nothing like ogri, what with him having that lantern jaw and bent hooter, im much more of a ringer for tom cruise in fact..
nick, my first wife was an absolute pig about the bike thing, i sold my cb900f back in 84 when we needed a car to keep her happy, and had the worst year of my life, the one and only time in my adult life i was without a bike, a year later we were seperated and i was on a gpz900r.my lovely and incredibly kind penny, who im with now, wouldnt have me without the bikes, she knows its as much a part of me as any of me limbs lol. as such, on thursday im suprising her with a week away somewhere nice and warm, crete i think, which will be good for me too as these next two days im on a special diet then on wednesday got a barium enema whatever the foc that is...
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - Exupnut - 21-10-13
As red98 said... A lovely read mate. The fzs 1000 was my dream bike after owning a 600 for 3.5 yrs and I'm keeping it and leaving it to my kids aswell. (The eldest already has his own bike) so i know where your coming from.
Barium meal ? U work for MI5?
Re: Summat different for the weekend... - ogri48 - 21-10-13
i loved my gen 1 bud, id much rather have left him one of them or the cb1300, theres a far better chance it will still be running in the future
at least the harley will make a good ornament, in our last house we kept it in the front room, along with my bass gear. tnow that was rock and roll...